A Tennis Story
by MeddlinRush
Summary: So far, this has nothing to do with Mario. (ha ha) Anyway, Sam goes to the Tennis Academy because of her talent and some pretty strange things go on. Terrible summary, just R&R. CH2 UP!
1. Getting on the Road

Btc900: It's a mix up between Mario Tennis for game boy and Animal Crossing for game cube. Plus summa my own stuff. ( Enjoy, or at least TRY! Oh yah, I don't own Mario Tennis, or Animal Crossing, just to let you know. Just READ!  
  
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The dust in the air was looming around outside my window and I saw the sun just very slightly arched over the barren desert. This is where I live. I live in hot, deserted plains on the very southest south of Arizona. The tumbleweeds were bouncing slightly in the very faint, hot breeze. It already felt like 105 degrees and it was only 7am.  
  
I got up and dressed in my small, loose-fitting clothes, if you would CALL them clothes. They were faded and dusty from searching. Searching for fossils, that is. My father was a paleontologist, and he found many fossils once before here. That's how we could even be living in this barren wasteland. After all, it was hard to get air conditioning to all 3 floors in my house. There weren't any shopping malls around, so that's why I didn't have nice clothes. But we were very wealthy.  
  
So I put my jeans on and my faded pink shirt when mama called me down to breakfast. I ran down the stairs to the middle floor and saw the muffins baking and the bacon sizzling on the stove. I bid her goodmorning, but I grabbed a piece of toast instead of eating what she had cooked, because I knew my 3 sisters and 2 brothers wouldn't have had enough if I had taken some.  
  
I ran back upstairs and grabbed my suitcases. I was going off to the Tennis Academy today. I was to return every other month. This meant that my parents would have one less mouth to feed, one load less of laundry to wash, and most importantly, one less kid to have fighting in the long car rides to the grocery store. There was always a long drive everywhere we went. We lived on the outskirts of Arizona!  
  
I dragged my suitcases and my big tennis raquet case downstairs and loaded them in our blue suburban. My mother was driving me, instead of my father, because he was in his work room researching. Research time for my father always meant that we couldn't bother him.  
  
"Is that all, Sam?" my mother asked. My real name was Sarah-May, but everyone just called me Sam. I nodded. I had been packing for at least a week, so I was sure that I had *everything* that was needed. I raced out to the suburban and hopped in the front seat.  
  
Even though I was only 13, I still qualified for the Acadamy. I was privately taught every day of the year since my mother was a tennis coach. Every day when she got home from work, she coached me. Sometimes she even took days off to teach me if I needed more work, and she was one of the state's best coaches. I had been taking tennis from her ever since I could walk, talk, and hold a tennis raquet.  
  
Once we were off, I asked her how long it would be till we got there. She said it was going to be a few hours or so, so I relaxed and put on my head phones. For miles and miles, the road was just a trail of rusty red sand that was baked every day by the scorching sun. The power of the sun here was so powerful, it melted plastic if you set it out all day. Our car was light-colored, so we didn't have to worry much about it.  
  
After a long while, we finally reached the Acadamy. It was beautiful! There were lush green trees and grass, even sprinklers! The sand was rich, dark, and moist, and even the smell of it all was surreal! All of the color hurt my eyes, since I'd never seen such green grass, nor bright, vivid flowers!  
  
I got out and told my mother to wait for a while so I could check in. I started my way up the path, noticing the tennis courts to my left and right, when a man came up to me. He was the headmaster, I could tell. He was wearing light, flexible, obviously expensive shorts and a white Polo shirt.  
  
"Welcome, Sarah-May! I see your mother over there. Hi, Mrs. Miller!" he yelled to my mother. I ignored this. Once he turned his attention to me, his smile brightened.  
  
"And I'm guessing you are about 10 years old?" he asked. I frowned. I hated when adults did that. They mistake me for a fourth grader.  
  
"No, sir. I'm 13," I said bashfully. I never was good at talking to adults. I was more of a kid person. I was so short, I always blended in with them, anyway. He seemed unphased and he turned slightly, apparently wanting to be elsewhere.  
  
"Ah, well, even grown-ups make mistakes," he said, then cleared his throat to continue, "Well, I'll have a coach show you around campus. Just to let you know, you'll be in the Junior Tennis Group first. You can work your way up from there, but we'll see... anyway, I'll take you to the dorms, your mother can drive around back and drop your luggage off around the other side of the building here," he said.  
  
He led me into the building, and he said, "This is the Acadamy's main building. The office is around the corner, but we're going to the dorms." He sped off and I had to run to keep up with him. We made it out of the building and I saw my luggage there. My mom had parked in the lot next to the heap of luggage, and had already gotten out. She ran over to me, hugged me, said, "Take care, mommy loves you," ran back over to the car and sped off. She was late for work.  
  
When I turned around, the headmaster was gone! Instead, a raven-haired college student was there, and said, "Sorry, the headmaster had to leave. I'll show you to the dorms. You don't have a partner yet, sorry. I'm going to the office to check on that. Today's a busy day! Here's your keys and your room is room 103."  
  
With that, she was off to the Main Building. I walked down the path, dragging the luggage, and read the signs; rooms 100-150, rooms 151-200, rooms 201-250 and so on. I took the first one. I walked down that path and read the doors: Room 100, Room101, Room 102, AHA! Room 103. I unlocked the door to see the room white washed and very blank. There were 2 beds with 2 bare matresses. Lucky for me, I brought my favorite sheets and matress cover. I didn't bring pillows or comforters, however. This wasn't good.  
  
I unpacked my stuff and put it all away, when I heard a knock at the door. I ran to the door and opened it to see a guy about my age. He had light brown hair and blue eyes just staring at me. I started to laugh, and said, "Hi. Um, I don't think you're in the right room..."  
  
He smiled casually and said, "That's not what the coach told me. I think we're room mates." My jaw dropped open. Was he serious? Not only was he a guy, he was a guy MY age! Who do these people take me for?! I sat down on my bed, rubbing my temples, contemplating on what to do then.  
  
"Stay here. Let me go back to the Main Building to, um, fix this," I said taking off. He stared after me, but I didn't care in the least. But really? A guy for my room mate? Is that even legal? Once I entered the main building, I rushed over to the raven-haired girl and asked, "Excuse me, but is my room mate really a guy?" She just looked at me and shrugged. Frustrating, very frustrating, I thought.  
  
I went over to the headmaster and asked him the same question. He just nodded and said, "Yep. Your roommate is a boy. You don't care, right?" he asked. I just stared at him disbelievingly.  
  
I dragged myself back to the dorm room and saw the guy outside on a bench drinking a soda with a bag of peanut M&Ms in his other hand. I blinked repeatedly and stood in front of him. He finally looked up at me and asked, "What?" I closed my eyes thinking, I have to sleep in a dorm room for an entire year with this guy. When suddenly, it gets worst...  
  
"Hey, did you know I'm your partner in doubles? You know, on your team?" he asked, slurping his soda. My jaw dropped yet again. I have to cooperate with this guy during doubles matches. I figured if you can't beat him, join him, so I sat down next him and took a couple of his M&Ms asking, "So what's your name?"  
  
"Ash Hillard," he said, defensively covering the bag of M&Ms. I popped some in my mouth and said, "Ash, huh? Cute name. Reminds me of that cartoon." He rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah, everyone says that."  
  
After a while, I found out this guy wasn't so bad after all. He was nice to me, and I respected him for that. But still, that's not good to have a GUY for your room mate. I'm not a stupid baby, and those people seem to think so. They think I'm a naiive, innocent little goldie locks. Well boy have I got something in stock for them.  
  
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Btc900: Sooo... what'd u guys think? Too long, too short, not enough description, what? Review please! I like writing this story!!! Woooo hoooo! Sorry, I'm on a sugar high. 


	2. Prematch Frustration

Btc900: I dunno why I thought this story was like AC... Whatever. I don't own much in this story, but I think we all know that I do own something right? Uh, I confused myself. R&R!  
  
EM-T: I did finish your story about Animal Crossing the other day, just didn't review. Lol. Anyway, I used to live in Arizona, but then I had a cross-country move... which sucked by the way. I liked your story, and whoever else is reading this should really check it out! :) Oh, and I'll try to paragraph more... but it'll be hard. I have a tendency to clash things together all in one paragraph. *Cringes* Sorry. (They do it that way in published novels, so that's kinda why I did it that way)  
  
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Chapter 2:  
  
Once noon rolled around, I figured I would check on my junior rankings. I started to leave, but then Ash threw an M&M at me and said, "Dude, I wanna go, too." I rolled my eyes and reluctantly agreed. This was going to be a long day, I thought.  
  
Once we got down to the courts, I found out I was ranked higher than I thought! 5th in class! Only... that was the last in line. I went up to the Junior Team coach, and she said, "Hi! I'm Amy! Do you want to challenge the 4th in rank?" I just nodded.  
  
She waved some people over, and these people had to be at least 2 times my age. Anyway, one was a girl who had hair dyed blue, and one was a guy with spiked blonde hair. The girl was *really* tall.  
  
"You must be Ash, and you must be Sarah-May, correct?" the girl asked us. He nodded, but I scowled and said quietly, "No... it's Sam. My name is Sam."  
  
She didn't seem to hear because she started talking before I finished. Once she stopped saying how hard she was going to beat us, she ran over to the baseline and screamed, "READY!" I rolled my eyes and grabbed a few tennis balls, ready to serve, when the coach yelled, "Okay! It's break time! Everyone off the courts!"  
  
I stood my ground, not budging as all of them except my partner stampeded out of the courts. Ash gave me a look of bewilderment as to what I was going to do, when the coach came to us and said, "Didn't I say break time? I know you're only, what, 9, but when I say break time, you are supposed to go to the food courts!"  
  
I hated it the way everyone treated me so far, except Ash, of course. He smiled at me and said, "Sorry. Lots of people do that to you, huh?" he asked, referring to the age mistake. I nodded and then ran back to the coach and said, "Look, I know you're busy, but the headmaster said a coach was going to show me around campus. Do you mind?"  
  
She stared at me, then said, "Sure! Take a left and there's the food courts!" I smiled at her stupidity, then said, "No. SHOW ME AROUND." She smiled, then said, "Ask that boy. He'll know where the food courts are." I got mad, so I picked up my racquet and stormed out as Ash followed.  
  
Once we arrived at the food courts, I asked, "Ash, you have some friends you can hang with, right? Well I'm going to go get me a sub and some soda, kay?" He shook his head, saying, "No, I'll come with you. I don't know anyone here." I smiled, then said, "Fine with me."  
  
I walked over to the chef lady and asked for my order, then she said, "Sorry, honey, the only thing we serve here are nutrition drinks and smoothies. Guaranteed to fill you up." My eyes widened and I heard myself gasp in awe. "Nothing but nutrition drinks and smoothies," I repeated emotionlessly. I walked back to a table that Ash was at and sat down.  
  
"What happened? Are you waiting for your sub?" he asked. I shook my head with no expression on my face and said, "Nothing but nutrition drinks and smoothies." His eyes widened, too and he said, "You're kidding." He ran up to the chef lady and came back with 2 artificially flavored chocolate smoothies. "Here," he said, "We have to eat SOMETHING."  
  
When we got back to the Junior courts, they were still closed until 3pm, so we went around to look for someone to show us the campus. We found one coach and so we immediately ran up to him and asked him to show us around. "Sure!" he said.  
  
It was really great to hear that from at least ONE coach. He took us back through the main building and around a corner of the street. We saw a fountain and some cobblestone sidewalks, and then we came to a fairly large building. "This," the coach explained, "is the Training Center and back behind it is the Trophy Display Center. That's the Headmaster's pride and glory."  
  
He toured us around to see the pool, library, pet shop, shoe store, tennis warehouse, and the giant-sized gym. He said on weekends that we could leave the Academy and travel wherever we want. He said there were mailboxes in case we want to get mail, and a small post office on the corner. He also said that there are flyers sent out once a month to let us know when we can go back home to see our families. I was really overjoyed to know that.  
  
Once he filled us in on all that, he ran off to where ever he came from, leaving me and Ash in the park. It was about 2pm, so I started to head back to the dorms. "Wait!" Ash said. I turned around to see him looking really funny, and said, "What do you want?" He made a cute face and said, "I wanna go to the pet store." I laughed and said, "Oh all right. Which way is it?"  
  
Once we got back to the dorms with a goldfish and a kitty cat, the cat being mine, he collapsed on his naked mattress and he yelled, "Sami? Could you please go down the hall to the linens room? There's some comforters and pillows..." I rolled my eyes and said, "Yeah, whatever."  
  
I went down the hall and grabbed a couple pillows and a huge "sleep ware" kit, before heading back. I was barely managing to get it all down the hall, when I tripped over the pillow case that was unnoticeably hanging out and fell on my face. Ash opened the door to see me face down on the carpeting and stooped down to help me.  
  
"How did you fall on your face?" he asked trying to drag the linens in the dorm. I got up and smiled and said, "It's a blonde thing." He seemed to stop for a moment to examine my hair.  
  
Indeed, it was neon yellow as always. I usually kept the two front orange highlights separated from the rest, but today I just strung it all up in a tight ponytail. I smiled at him, since I kinda felt like he was staring at me, and that was an uncomfortable feeling.  
  
We put the linens on the beds and situated everything. His goldfish was on his desk, and my cat was curled up on his lap. After a while, he got tired and fell asleep. I watched my cat nuzzle him with affection and pat him tenderly with its paws. I suddenly realized I was smiling at them, and I quickly stopped.  
  
Soon, I fell asleep too hearing the birds quietly twitter. One moment I was feeling content and relaxation, the next I felt a slimy thing wiping my cheek. My eyes shot open to see my cat in my face and Ash right above the cat.  
  
I jolted back and ended up falling off the bed and hitting the floor. He did a short gasp and said, "You okay?" I smiled up at him and said, "No. I died." He laughed and picked my cat up, and then, as I thought he would, threw the cat on me. I caught it and smiled warmly at him. He wasn't nearly as bad as I thought he would be. Which, in fact, wasn't entirely too good of a thing. Not at all.  
  
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Btc900: Yeah, I know. This chapter did *nothing*. Actually, it sets up everything for the next chapter. Someone gets their a** kicked! Literally! You'll see! Just keep reading!!!!!! Who will it be? And WHY? My sugar high is dying... gotta go get some more grape soda... 


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